Hammer



Sept. 19, 1961 United States Patent C This invention relates to improvements in hammers and more particularly relates to a hammer having a selfaligning and cushioned head.

A primary object; of the invention is to provide a hammer which can be used by one without special skill in hammering; and a more specific object is to provide a hammer which will minimize the tendency to mar the work into which a nail is being driven. A further object is to provide a hammer having a head so cushioned that a nail may be more readily driven and with fewer blows. Still another object of the invention is to provide a hammer construction which permits ready replacement of the cushioning element or of the striking head without the replacement of the other. An additional object of the invention is to provide simple and inexpensive means for rendering the striking face of a hammer head self-aligning upon impact with the surface hit by the hammer and for preventing the maning of the surface. It is also an object of the invention to provide for a hammer head construction which can be used on fragile surfaces such as aluminum siding, ply-wood, and the like.

These and other objects of my invention will become apparatent as the description thereof proceeds by reference to a preferred form thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, of a hammer provided with one embodiment of my invention;

FIGURE 2 shows another form of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a view, partly in section, of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an expanded fragmentary section of the apparatus of FIGURES 2 and 3; and

FIGURE 5 is another form of the invention, also applied to an ordinary carpenter hammer.

Briefly, I attain the objects of the invention by providing a separable striking head with a flexible sleeve means for resiliently connecting the head to the hammer tip. In the preferred embodiment, the sleeve also fits about the striking head with a rim projecting beyond the face of the hammer. The sleeve cushions the blow while driving the nail whereas the rim breaks the force of the blow in striking the work piece or surface.

Referring to the drawings, my invention may be embodied in a carpenters hammer including a handle 11, and a transverse hammer head 12 including the claw 13, the striking shank or tip 14, and the floating head or block 15. The block 15 is provided with an elongated stud 16 which is accommodated by the bore 17 in the shank 14. The bore 17 is somewhat shallower than the length of the stud 16. A shoulder 18 on the stud 16 snugly fits the bore 19 in the sleeve 20 which has a larger recess 21 to receive the snub nose of the shank '14. The shoulder 22 in the recess 21 contacts the end of the striking shank or tip 14 and the wall of the sleeve 20 flares outwardly at that point. The shoulder 22 absorbs the shock of impact and tends to impel the head forward on recoil thereby adding force to the blow.

In FIGURES 2-4, the sleeve 20 is supplemented by an integral cap 23 providing a rim 24 about the striking head or block 15. The rim 24 provides a buffer about the striking head 15 without interfering with the shockabsorbing and recoil action of the sleeve 20.

A futrher embodiment of the invention is shown in Patented Sept. 19, 1961 FIGURE 5 wherein the striking block or head 15 does not include a shank or stud 16. The sleeve 29 fits snugly about the tip 14 and the intergral cap 26 retains the block 15'. A rim 27 projects beyond the striking face of the block as in FIGURE 3 and for similar purposes. A channel 28 in the adapter 29 can be provided to impart greater resilience to the sleeve as desired.

The snubber sleeve or adapter (20 and 29) for securing the striking block 15 to the snub-nosed hammer may be of rubber or other resilent and elastic material. It should be capable of withstanding the impact and the constant flexing in its cushioning action. It should be further capable of gripping the snub-nose tip 14 and of holding the striking block 15.

Although I have described my invention with'r'eference to preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, it should be understood that this is by way of example only and that modifications in the hammer can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my described invention.

What I claim is:

l. A hammer construction comprising a hammer head, a separable striking block, a resilient sleeve means flexibly securing said block to said head, said sleeve means providing an internal elastic shoulder against which said block abuts and comprising a first thin-walled section gripping the striking block of the hammer and a second thick-walled section in a portion of said sleeve which grips a stud secured to said striking block, and a third thin-walled section embraces the periphery of the striking block and projects beyond the face thereof.

2. A hammer construction comprising a hammer head, a separable striking block, a resilient sleeve means flexibly securing said block to said head, said sleeve means providing an internal elastic shoulder against which said block abuts and wherein the head is provided with a bore, the block includes a cylindrical stud slidably disposed within said bore, and said stud having two separate sections of lesser diameter than said striking block, said sleeve means is a generally tubular elastic member gripping said head at one end and gripping the said sections of said stud at the other.

3. A hammer construction comprising a hammer head, a separable striking block, a resilient sleeve means flexibly securing said block to said head, said sleeve means providing an internal elastic shoulder against which said block abuts, a bore in said head, a stud integral with said block and extendable within said bore, and said sleeve means comprises a tubular member having a first section frictionally gripping said stud on said block and a second section gripping said head, the wall of said second section being relatively thin as compared to the wall of said first section whereby said tubular member flexes in the region between the head and the block.

4. An improved builders hammer comprising a hammer head having a snub nose, a cylindrical bore in said nose, a striking block, a cylindrical stud on said block extending within said bore, and an elastic snubber and connector sleeve means having an axial bore through which said stud passes, a recessed section at one end of said sleeve means gripping the outer surface of said snub nose, a second recessed section at the other end of said sleeve gripping the periphery of said striking block and projecting beyond the face thereof to provide a butter rim.

5. A hammer construction comprising a hammer head, a separable striking block having a reduced portion, and a resilient sleeve means having thin-walled sections at opposite ends thereof which embrace a portion of said head and said reduced portion of said block thereby fleiibly seeming saidblock to said head, said sleeve means having an intermediate thick-walled section providing an inwardly extending elastic shoulder spaced from said head and against which said block abuts.

6'. The hammer construction of claim 5 wherein the said head has .a bore therein and said striking block includes an axial portion of reduced cross-section slidably receivedin said bore and encircled by the sleeve means whereby said block is frictionally held by the end of the sleeve rneans remote from said head.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Rudd Ian. 2, 1917 Lutch Mar. 27, 1928 Burnett May 12, 1942 Ulives ..V July 18,1950

FOREIGN PATENTS I Great Britain July 8, 1914 Great Britain July 13, 1955 

